The psychological and neural mechanisms of forgetting
• The fast pace of modern life, multitasking, puts a heavy burden on the brain, and memory performance will decline significantly when attention is distracted. Studies have found that excessive media multitasking (such as sending WeChat messages while watching videos) can lead to distraction, which can lead to poor memory test scores. In addition, increased cortisol secretion under acute stress can also affect the function of the hippocampus. Excessive cortisol can damage the hippocampus and impair memory encoding and retrieval abilities.
• Psychological research points out that forgetting usually comes from: ① Inattention leading to encoding failure, ② Memory decays over time, and ③ Information cannot be successfully retrieved after storage. In fast-paced, high-pressure scenarios, these effects will be superimposed and amplified, and people are more likely to forget.
Cognitive unloading: digital "external brain" assistance
• Faced with massive amounts of information, humans are increasingly relying on technology as "external memory". Cognitive scientists call the act of handing over memory tasks to external devices "cognitive unloading".
• Classic studies have shown that when we know that information has been saved on the Internet or a device, we tend to remember the location of the information rather than the content itself. In other words, our brain treats it like an "external hard drive" to remember where the data is stored.
• Smart locators such as AirTag are the embodiment of this digital external memory: as long as you hang AirTag on your keychain or put it in your backpack, the "Find" app on your iPhone will show you the location of the item. They help us "outsource" the memory of the location of the item, which is equivalent to adding a reliable backup for easy-to-forget memories.
Application of smart locators in daily life
• Smart locators are very practical in alleviating the anxiety caused by forgetting or losing items.
For example, AirTags hung on keys or wallets can help you locate quickly: if the keys are lost in the cracks of the sofa, you can use the "Find" app to let AirTag play a sound to prompt the location.
If the luggage is lost during the trip, the global "Find" network built into AirTag (consisting of nearly one billion Apple devices) will update its latest location and quickly narrow the search range.
Some pet owners also wear smart dog tags that work with the Find My network on their pets. Once the pet is lost, as long as there are any users connected to Apple devices around, these devices will anonymously upload the location of the pet collar to help the owner find it.
Industry sources point out that with hundreds of millions of "Find" devices around the world, locators such as AirTag can be used to track keys, luggage, musical instruments, pets, and even bicycles, greatly reducing the trouble of daily lost items.
Practical suggestions
• Applicable items: Smart locators are suitable for sticking or hanging on small items that are easy to lose. For example, common items such as keys, mobile phones, wallets, backpacks, suitcases, umbrellas, etc. When using it, you can name each locator in the "Find" app for easy identification.
• Improve usage efficiency: Enable departure reminders for the locator in the "Find" app. After setting, when your iPhone is separated from a paired item, a reminder will be automatically pushed.
• If the physical object is lost, you can enable lost mode: when someone else's device detects the AirTag, you will receive a notification, and you can set a phone or message to let kind people view the contact information through NFC.
• In addition, the locator can be shared with family members (up to five people) so that relatives and friends can also help track it. When searching at close range, iPhones that support ultra-wideband (11 and above) can use the "Precise Find" function to guide the direction and distance step by step.
• Finally, please pay attention to replacing the battery: AirTag uses a standard button battery with a battery life of about one year. The iPhone will prompt when the battery is low.
Avoid over-reliance or misuse:
The locator is only an auxiliary tool and cannot completely replace good item management habits (such as fixing a place for keys). Do not use the locator to track others or unauthorized items, otherwise it may violate privacy and be illegal in many areas. It is worth mentioning that AirTag has its own anti-tracking mechanism: if an AirTag that is not yours moves with you for a long time, your iPhone will remind you "Found an AirTag following you" and make a sound after a period of time to help you identify and disable the suspicious device.
Summary
With the popularization of technology, more and more people use external resources such as mobile phones and the Internet as "plug-ins" for memory. This is not brain degeneration, but a strategy to adapt to information life: we remember how to access information instead of memorizing details. The emergence of smart locators such as AirTag caters to this trend - they allow us to safely hand over the location memory of our belongings to technology. In a fast-paced life, this is like adding a safety net to the daily itinerary: even if the keys or luggage are misplaced in a hurry, the locator can help us find them quickly, reducing anxiety and loss. Proper use of this digital "external memory" can not only improve the convenience of life, but also leave more space for the brain to focus on more important thinking and creation.
